Borders opens US e-books service

Borders' e-reader application works on a variety of devices

Borders, the bookstore which recently closed its high street presence in the UK, is back and in the e-books business.

Amazon and Apple credit a significant boost in revenues to their own e-book sales, and Borders competitor Barnes & Noble recently launched its own e-reader hardware.

Borders is not offering its own hardware for now, just the e-books themselves, and the service is limited to the US. However, this could change in the future.

In order to use the service users will have to download a reader application, which the company said would work on a variety of devices.

Mike Edwards, president of Borders, was bullish about the firm's place on the market, telling Reuters that he expected the firm to take share "just by turning it on".

Borders has over one million e-books, according to the web site, many of which are free. However, according to web usability expert Jakob Nielsen, the e-book reading experience is not a good one.

Despite their many benefits, Nielsen said they were still a slower proposition than the printed alternative.

Perhaps surprisingly, many users said that they found the printed book to be more relaxing then the digital alternative.